From '90s Canadian pop band The Moffatts to fronting the musical duo Music Travel Love, brothers Clint and Bob Moffatt discovered their own path in the music scene by owning what matters to them.
This was what they shared with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in a sit-down interview ahead of their concert in Manila this Sunday night, June 28, 2026.
Clint was bass guitarist, while Bob was the drummer for The Moffatts with their eldest brother Scott as lead vocalist/guitarist and fraternal triplet Dave as lead vocalist/keyboardist.
The group disbanded in 2001.
While they never completely turned their back on music, it was only until 2016 when Clint and Bob were determined to start afresh as a duo named Endless Summer.
They later changed their name to Music Travel Love due to trademark issues.
Recalling how the idea to start a musical duo came about, Bob said it popped up on an ordinary day while they were on the road and thinking about people they love.
"We were driving in our '92 beat-up Chevy Malibu, and we were just kind of wondering what we wanna do. Clint just had a son. I think his son was only three or four months old at the time.
"And, you know, we were just chatting about what was important to us in our lives."
Bob continued, "We had done a lot of things. You know, The Moffatts brought us a lot of joy, a lot of success in our lives.
"And we were trying to build other things out and at some point, we just kinda ask ourselves what's important to us.
"And the biggest things were music, travel, and love."
They also knew at that point that balancing work and family time is important to them.
"Making sure that whatever we decided we wanted to do, we were to spend a lot of time with our family.
"We didn't wanna be on a tour bus, you know, 300 days a year and not see our kids grow up."
Inspiration struck when they saw a viral social media content showcasing scenic places.
"There was a guy out in Bali that was taking photos at amazing locations, waterfalls, just beautiful backgrounds. And he was placing himself in these beautiful places.
"And we just thought it was a cool idea to pair that with music.
"We hadn't really seen that before, but we thought it would kind of enhance the music."
On hindsight, Bob added, "I don't think we realized that we were creating a brand at the time, but I think we just wanted to create interesting content for YouTube."
Bob and Clint have performed roughly five original compositions since then, but they mostly perform classic love songs that people are familiar with.
Clint, for his part, explained that the preparation behind every song is much harder than what it seems.
"As far as the songs go, you know, there's just so many great songs. And typically, we just pick a song that is something that we've loved for a long time and something that comes to us really naturally.
"There's just so many songs that we grew up listening to. And sometimes when we pick up an acoustic guitar and we feel like, 'Oh, this is gonna be great,' and we hash it out, it turns out that it doesn't actually always sound great, and we should probably not do it yet, you know.
"Songs take time. Even though we do a lot of our stuff, it sounds like it's similar, you know, 'cause it's just on acoustic guitar and vocal majority of the time.
"It does take a long time to kinda understand a song well enough that when you sit down and you sing it, it sounds like it's your song."
Explaining the work that goes for every song, Clint elaborated: "It just takes a minute to kinda understand how you wanna sing it, the key that works well for you, the tempo that works well for you, the feel, the groove, 'cause that's the thing that makes artists unique and different, right?
"I mean, I think the formula of songwriting has... People have figured it out. The great song writers have figured out the formulas, you know, from Ed Sheeran to Bryan Adams to Elton John, and the list goes on.
"You know, most of the time when you start to strip these songs back to just acoustic guitar, you realize that they're very similar, but different.
"And the things that make them different is, you know, the interpretation of the artist."
Citing examples, Clint pointed out, "A song performed by Michael Jackson, performed by Barry Gibbs is gonna sound like a very different record. And, or Bryan Adams.
"And that's just the perspective of being a great artist and having your own, I don't know, vision on how you hear it.
"And so for us, we try to do the same thing and it takes a long time sometimes.
"Sometimes it comes a little more natural than others, certain songs, but there's certain songs that push us and make us work, you know, to really understand it."
Read: The Moffatts recalls Manila concert 16 years ago: "Last time, there were no cellphones."
MUSIC TRAVEL LOVE WITH FILIPINO ARTISTS
Choosing who they collaborate with for their music videos, Clint said, is easier.
"When you work with talented people, it makes your entire world around you better," he beamed.
Both Clint and Bob went on to say that they have always loved working with musicians in the Philippines.
A quick look at their official YouTube account, which currently has 6.17 million followers, would show that they've made collabs with Filipino artist Bugoy Drilon.
Some of the songs that they did together were "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" with 164M views, "Forever Young" with 31M views, and "That's The Way It Is" with 46M views.
"Forever Young" was shot at Buscalan Village in Kalinga overlooking the majestic rice terraces.
Released last year, the video even showed Bob, Clint, and Bugoy getting tattoos from reknowned Filipino tattoo artist Apo Whang-od.
"Luckily, here in the Philippines, there's so many amazing people as well on top of it that are kind.
"And I mean, you can have a great voice, but if you're not kind, you know, it's a little harder to work with you.
"So for us, this country has given us an immense amount of talent to work with."
They've also recently worked with another Filipino artist, but they refused to name who it is until they drop the music video on their channel.
AS FAMILY MEN
Outside work, both Clint and Bob are happily married with kids.
Clint has three sons and a daughter to wife Sydney, while Bob has a daughter and son to wife Amanda.
Asked how they make time for family, Bob reiterated that it's about setting boundaries and knowing one's priorities.
"It's a challenge. In life there's lots of things, there's lots of moving parts and there's responsibilities.
"But at the end of the day, sometimes people forget that they make their own decisions, you know.
"For us to be able to have time and spend time with our family, you have to make those decisions.
"You have to sometimes be willing to say no to things. You have to sometimes be willing to say yes to things.
"And so, at the end of the day, you just have to take ownership of the fact that, 'Hey, you know what? This can wait. This is what's important to me."
"Prioritize the things in your life that matter. Once you start doing that, living like that, it gets a little bit easier to prioritize things."
In the meantime, Bob and Clint just wrapped up their shows in Cagayan De Oro and Cebu.
Later tonight they would be at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City as a final stop for their Philippine concert tour.
Their brother Dave Moffatt is one of their special guests for the concert.
The last time they were here in Manila was in 2017 for The Moffatt's reunion concert at the Araneta Coliseum.